Peabody wrote:

Last night my river birch was hit by lightning. I guess that
explains why you shouldn't stand under a tree during a storm.

Anyway, the tree is still standing, but it lost a significant
portion of its bark on about the bottom 20 ft. of the trunk. There
are no scorch marks, so I guess the bark was just popped off when
the moisture underneath turned to steam instantaneously. I
collected a garbage can full of bark chunks.

Do I need to do anything to the denuded areas, or just leave it
alone?

Is there a chance the tree will actually survive long term. I
assume its innards got quite a jolt, but don't know what that means
to a tree.

A tree guy told me that most trees die as a result of lightning strikes.
The damage doesn't look bad, a crack down the side and some missing
bark. But, insects get in and over a period of years, kill the tree.